


Somewhere Between the Lines

by ObnoxiouslyZukka



Series: Dreaming Wide Awake [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Background Relationships, Consensual Kink, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Moving In Together, Pregnancy, Pregnant Zuko (Avatar), Rating May Change, Relationship Discussions, Smut, Trans Zuko (Avatar), kink discussion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:28:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27622717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObnoxiouslyZukka/pseuds/ObnoxiouslyZukka
Summary: “Wow. What did I do to deserve being pampered so much this morning?” Zuko asked with a grin as he walked into the kitchen just as Jet was plating up the bacon.“Let me fuck you bare,twice,” Jet retorted instantly, smirking over at Zuko and watching the way his cheeks turned red.Zuko rolled his eyes at his boyfriend, turning away from him to grab the honey and stir some into his coffee… and also to hide the way his face was burning. “Yeah… We should probably talk about that,” he muttered, sitting at the kitchen island just as Jet set their plates down.(This is the second part of a series but the first part is all smut and not necessary to read.)
Relationships: Jet/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Dreaming Wide Awake [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2019260
Comments: 22
Kudos: 121





	Somewhere Between the Lines

**Author's Note:**

> **Read This!**
> 
> Hi! I just wanted to explain a few things before we all jump into this - 
> 
> I'm transmasc and a lot of this is based on my own personal experiences with gender and pregnancy. Please keep this in mind while reading. Not everyone - Hell, in my experience, hardly anyone - feels the same and that's okay. 
> 
> The piece that came before this and some of the future chapters has/will have some smutty, kinky scenes with some Dom/sub elements, daddy kink, and breeding kink (which is where the rating will be bumped up to 'E' and tags will be added.)
> 
> However, the actual decision they make to have a child isn't driven at all by these things. It's kept separate. There's a very clear, distinct line between kinky-sexy-in-the-bedroom dirty talk and real, everyday life involving actual decisions about their relationship, having children, and being parents. 
> 
> I wanted to write something that would feel *real* to me in this situation. Not hypersexualised but also not... dry lmao. Somewhat in part because my fiance and I have been seriously talking about trying for a baby soon. So I'm essentially using this fic to kind of organize and handle my own thoughts and anxieties about that.
> 
> Because who needs therapy when you can just write fanfiction?
> 
> (Everyone, by the way. Everyone does. I have a therapist, I swear.)
> 
> Anyways, for anyone still reading, I hope you like it <3

By the time Zuko finished his - in Jet’s opinion - ridiculously long shower, Jet had breakfast and coffee waiting for him. Pancakes and bacon and a cup full of a mix of espresso and steamed milk waiting for Zuko to add whatever sweetness he wanted into it.

Jet could handle pouring milk into a container and pressing a few buttons on the fancy glorified Keurig machine Zuko had - which he _claimed_ was a gift but seemed to conveniently forget who gave it to him when asked - but didn’t risk messing up the rest of Zuko’s process when making his sugary coffee drinks. Thus far, Zuko hasn’t complained about it. Happy that all he had to do was throw in some honey or syrup and stir.

The thing that Zuko _didn’t_ tell Jet is that most of the time if he was making coffee for himself he just made normal coffee and loaded it up with creamer. 

Jet didn’t have to know. Not when Zuko was guaranteed delicious frothy lattes anytime his boyfriend got up before him or while he was in the shower.

“Wow. What did I do to deserve being pampered so much this morning?” Zuko asked with a grin as he walked into the kitchen just as Jet was plating up the bacon. 

“Let me fuck you bare, _twice_ ,” Jet retorted instantly, smirking over at Zuko and watching the way his cheeks turned red. 

Zuko rolled his eyes at his boyfriend, turning away from him to grab the honey and stir some into his coffee… and also to hide the way his face was burning. “Yeah… We should probably talk about that,” he muttered, sitting at the kitchen island just as Jet set their plates down. 

“I mean… we already did a little last night,” Jet said, leaning down to kiss Zuko softly before sitting across from him. “Did you change your mind about me grabbing that Plan-B for you?” he asked. “Which is fine if you did. Either way is okay by me. I mean - it’s your body, baby. You get final say in what happens to it.”

A soft, fond smile made its way onto Zuko’s face at Jet’s words. The easy supportiveness behind them, the unsaid but still clearly heard confirmation that Jet was more than okay with taking that risk only so long as Zuko was, too. 

“Um…” Zuko hesitated, chewing on his lip and nudging around the pieces of bacon on his plate as he shook his head. “No, I… No,” he said with a soft, breathy chuckle. “That’s not - uh - I just… how - how serious are we about this? It’s all been talk before but… now it might happen,” he said, not looking up at Jet.

“Darling, I’m just as serious about this as you are,” Jet said easily, reaching over to brush a few pieces of still-damp hair out of Zuko’s face and cup his cheek. “Hey, baby, look at me.”

Slowly, Zuko tore his eyes off of his plate to look over at his boyfriend instead and his heart skipped a beat at the serious, intense way Jet was looking at him.

“If you _don’t_ want to have a baby yet then… we won’t, okay? I can grab the Plan-B and if all else fails or… you change your mind after it’s too late to do that, I’ll be right beside you if you want to have an abortion. Or if you want to just see what happens _this time_ but still go back to using condoms if it doesn’t happen then I’m good with that, too. _But_ …” Jet trailed off momentarily, taking in a deep breath and slowly letting it out. “But if you _do_ want to have a baby - now, with me - and actually start _trying_ to have one. I am… all for it,” he said, the last few words coming out in a little breathless laugh.

“Really?” Zuko breathed out before he could think about it. 

“Really,” Jet said firmly. “Only four months until my lease is up. I’ll be moved in with plenty of time left before that baby arrives even if we got lucky.”

“That’s… true,” Zuko nodded, trying to remember how to breathe properly as a mix of nerves, excitement, uncertainty, and heart-aching _want_ flooded through him. It felt reckless, to start trying for a baby _now_. Before they got married - Hell, they weren’t even engaged or living together yet. 

But Zuko wanted to have kids - with Jet - and he knew the longer he spent on testosterone the harder it would be to have a baby biologically. There was no telling how long he’d have until it just wasn’t possible anymore. 

The whole breeding thing, dirty talking, playing around like Jet could knock him up despite using condoms to prevent that from _actually_ happening was a total turn-on. A shameless kink they shared. It was for fun and neither of them _really_ meant anything by it. At least… for the most part.

The thought of _actually_ having a baby, of Zuko _actually_ getting pregnant was completely separate from that but still desperately wanted - sooner or later - nonetheless. But it was _real_. A huge step in their relationship and lives and Zuko had no idea how anyone else would react.

He’s already been told by countless people - prior partners, ex-friends, his family, a couple of therapists - that his desire to have a child biologically, to carry a child and have the experience of going through a pregnancy, made him less of a “true” man. That perhaps he was just _confused_ about his gender. 

It’s taken a lot for him to get past that and be able to confidently assert his gender and really, fully believe it without any of those internalized doubts haunting him. 

Except… Now he’s not entirely sure he _has_ gotten over it considering he’s worrying about what _other people_ would think about him having a baby.

“Hey, don’t hurt yourself thinking too hard. You don’t have to answer right now,” Jet teased. “Eat your breakfast before it gets all cold and soggy.”

“Oh shut up,” Zuko scoffed, glaring at his boyfriend and rather aggressively tearing off a piece of pancake with his fork to shove in his mouth.

“Brat,” Jet rolled his eyes, digging into his own food.

Zuko couldn’t stop running through it in his mind, though, even as they fell into a comfortable silence while enjoying breakfast. 

Anyway, anyone who _actually_ mattered - Jet and his friends, the couple of close friends Zuko had acquired, and Uncle Iroh - were always supportive and never tried to invalidate Zuko’s gender regardless of the choices he made.

The children’s hospital where he worked was pretty open and inclusive. The only issues that arose regarding LGBT+ identities and orientations were from the occasional _parent_ that didn’t want the staff to use their child’s preferred name and pronouns if they were different from the ones they were given at birth. Otherwise, among his coworkers and supervisors there was never an issue and he wasn’t the only non-cishet person that worked there. 

Jet was a counsellor in the same hospital, after all, which is how they met.

Aside from him, a good chunk of Zuko’s current friend group was found via work and absolutely _none_ of them were cishet. An occupational therapist that Zuko worked with a lot, Aang, was pansexual and his fiance, Katara, was a trans woman that worked as a nurse there. They ended up hanging out a lot outside of work and gradually Zuko was adopted into their larger friend group, too. 

So he shouldn’t have to worry about work too much. He had, at the absolute _least_ , three people that would definitely have his back should anyone be a dick about it. 

Plus, Jet did have a point. He’d be moving in soon. They were slowly heading in this direction - the marriage and kids direction - anyway and who cared if they did things a little out of order? They’ve been together almost three years now and Zuko had absolutely no doubts that Jet would be an _amazing_ father from just seeing how great he was with the kids at work.

Sick, hurt, scared kids of all ages that were going through serious surgeries, painful testing procedures, chemo treatments, recovering from abusive situations and… some that were terminally ill. He had a way of explaining those situations but still calming them down, helping them cope, and cheering them back up no matter what. Zuko’s heard plenty of great second-hand stories from the kids Jet worked with that he also happened to do some physical therapy with, too.

Neither of them were short on money, either. The hospital paid their employees well, offered some good benefits, and had a rather impressive parental leave policy.

There really weren't a lot of cons or risks that Zuko could think of in regards to having a baby right now.

Zuko didn’t speak up about the conclusion he made until they were done eating, though. Jet helping him with the dishes and casually talking about making plans to do something today since it was one of their rarely shared days off. 

“We have to go to the store at some point. Seriously, babe, I don’t get how you _never_ have real food around. I know _you_ suck at cooking but c’mon, I’ve got nothing to work with if I wanna surprise you with dinner,” Jet complained.

“I can cook some things,” Zuko grumbled, handing Jet a rinsed off plate to put into the dishwasher. “I just prefer… not to cook.”

“You’ve got three recipes you’re good at. And that doesn’t excuse the blatant lack of respectable food in your fridge,” Jet countered, getting an eye-roll from Zuko. “We’ll just stop by the store, I’ll grab some stuff to make dinner tonight and a box of condoms so I don’t have to try and remember them later.”

Zuko hesitated, slowly handing over another plate and chewing on his lip for a moment before finally speaking up. “You uh… you don’t have to. The - um - the condoms. You don’t have to get those. If… you don’t want to,” he said slowly, tripping over his own words, heart pounding so hard he could barely even hear himself over the blood rushing through his veins. 

Jet damn near dropped the plate he was holding, fumbling with it for a second before finding his grip again and putting it into its place in the dishwasher. “Oh?” he muttered with a little cough and if Zuko wasn’t also rather overwhelmed with anxious excitement he would’ve been able to enjoy the red tint to Jet’s face more. “You - You’re sure?”

“Yeah,” Zuko said in a rush of air. “Yeah,” he repeated, a little firmer. “I’ll… I’m gonna call my doctor later and set up an appointment. Just… figure out what I should be doing. Make sure everything is still… y’know, working right.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s… Good plan,” Jet nodded, staring over at Zuko for a few long, silent moments. “We’re really doing this, huh?” he muttered breathlessly.

Zuko nodded. “I want to,” he said softly. “Do… Do you?” he asked, just wanting to be absolutely _sure_ despite what Jet had said earlier.

“ _Yes_ ,” Jet instantly responded, a short burst of incredulous laughter coming from him. “Yes, baby, more than anything,” he sighed, closing the dishwasher so he could take a step forward and kiss Zuko. 

A little harder than intended, full of pure excitement and love and joy which Zuko happily returned. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! 
> 
> PLEASE leave a comment if you did! Seeing nice comments on any of my fics always lights up my day!


End file.
